10 Healing Hacks Guaranteed to Soothe Your Dry Winter Skin
There's nothing quite like cranking up the heat on a cold winter day. Unfortunately, dry winter air coupled with intense heat can take a major toll on our skin.
Super dry skin can crack or even bleed, and, overtime, that will age your skin prematurely—yikes! Below, we've put together 10 winter beauty hacks to give your skin, lips and hands looking (and feeling) soft and hydrated.
1. Exfoliate a Dry Scalp With Sugar
All that heat can lead to a dry, flakey scalp—yuck! This is no good, especially if you like to wear darker colors. Luckily, there's a simple fix—just grab some refined sugar (or a sugar packet from your next coffee run) and mix it in with your shampoo right before you shampoo your hair. The granules of sugar will gently exfoliate and slough away dead skin cells.
2. Keep Your Hot Showers to 20 minutes or Less
As tempting as it is to take a long, hot bath or shower after a freezing cold day, limit yourself to 20 minutes. Hot water breaks down the lipids on the skin's surface, and lipids are the key to keeping your skin moisturized. So taking long, hot showers will actually make your skin drier than it already is.
3. Add Soothing Oatmeal and Epsom Salts to Your Bath
When you do want to take a nice 20-minute soak in the tub, fill it up with moisturizing, skin-softening ingredients, like oatmeal and epsom salts. Not only is it great for your skin, it's like having a mini spa day right at home.
4. Switch to a Cleansing Oil
If you typically use a foaming cleanser, winter is the time to switch to a cleansing oil. This will help maintain the skin's moisture while removing makeup and grime, leaving your skin hydrated. Our favorite is Biossance Squalene + Antioxidant Cleansing Oil.
5. Invest in a Humidifier
Winter's super low humidity is a major source of your skin's dryness and itchiness. Sleep with a humidifier in your room to add misty moisture back into the air—it will help your skin, your breathing and your sleep.
6. Soothe Dry Lips With Tea Bags
There's nothing quite like pouring yourself a cup of green tea and cozying up to a fire with a good book. But what if we told you your tea bag can double as a dry lip healer? The tannins in green tea hydrate and soothe dry, wind-burned lips. Pretty cool, right?
7. Make a DIY Lip Scrub
Exfoliating your lips is also a great way to slough off dead skin cells. We like mixing a packet of sugar with a little bit of honey or coconut oil. Tasty and effective!
8. Apply Lotion While Still in the Shower
Is your skin so dry it's crying? Then apply lotion while you're still in the shower. Towel dry and then apply lotion head-to-toe while still standing in your steamy shower and let the lotion sink in. The heat and steam from your shower allows the lotion to absorb more efficiently.
9. Use Cream-Based Makeup Products
While we love powder contour and highlighter, in winter, we give those puppies a rest and opt for cream-based makeup to avoid looking caky and flakey. Instead of going out and buying all new makeup, you can use a nail file to crumble off a little bit of your favorite powdered product. Then, use a thick lotion or even a face oil to turn it into a creamy liquid.
10. Don't Neglect Your Hands
Our hands really get the short end of the stick. We use them constantly, but most of us forget to give them love. Get a truly moisturizing hand cream, like L'Occitane's Shea Butter Intensive Hand Balm, and reapply throughout the day.
Itching for clear skin? HERE are five acne remedies that actually work.
